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NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline APRIL 30, 2021 | The Indian Eye 20
task force focused on providing
India with critical medical sup-
plies, oxygen and other assis-
tance. It includes a new portal
where U.S. firms can offer in-
kind donations.
Sewa International USA, a
Houston, Texas-based nonprof-
it that works in the areas of di-
saster recovery, education, and
development has launched a
‘Help India Defeat COVID-19’
campaign to ship oxygen con-
centrators to Indian hospitals.
As a second wave of
COVID-19 overwhelms In-
dia’s healthcare system causing
an acute shortage of oxygen,
ventilators, and hospital beds
across the country, several Indi-
an-American organizations and
individuals have sprung forward
to help.
Sewa International says US air Force aircraft arrives at the indira Gandhi international airport cargo terminal in
it has raised $5,784,807, as of new Delhi on Friday, with COViD material. (ani)
April 29, in its $10 million goal in
a fundraiser started on April 23, ed States has dispatched 500 ygen in India’s capital” the sup- AIF press release.
2021 on Facebook. The funds oxygen concentrators to Delhi ply is in response to the oxygen The AIF is working with lo-
are being used to procure med- as of April 29, 2021. Meant to S.O.S. by the Delhi State gov- cal governments, hospitals, and
ical equipment supplies, as well “swiftly shore up supplies of ox- ernment, NIT said quoting an stakeholders to understand the
as getting the equipment and es- needs from cities to rural vil-
sential supplies to hospitals, in- lages. “Our 20 years of working
stitutions, and individuals in In- Us to imPose within these systems and our
dia, News India Times reported. expansive network allows us
Some 2,584 oxygen-con- traVeL baN from iNdia to quickly direct equipment to
centrators have already been where it is needed,” it assured
shipped to the country. he Biden administration is set to enact a travel ban on those who wish to donate.
Sewa is also providing food Connecticut’s large Indi-
and medicines to about 10,000 any non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents coming an-American community is
families and more than 1000 Tto the country from India as multiple coronavirus vari- raising money and awareness.
orphanages, and senior citizen ants have driven India’s COVID-19 outbreak to troubling new They’re also dealing with trauma
heights. The policy will take effect starting on Tuesday, the
centers across the country, ac- White House said. due to being unable to help as
cording to a press release from India had already been under a Level 4 – Do Not Travel family members grow sick or die.
the organization. advisory from the State Department, which issued or updated “It almost looks like the plague
Sewa’s Vice President for of the 1900s. It shouldn’t,” said
Marketing and Fund Develop- scores of travel advisories related to the continued spread of Srividya Srinivasan, President of
ment Sandeep Khadkekar, re- the coronavirus last week. The new ban will take the precaution the Kerala Association of Con-
to a new level.
sponding to the overwhelming The policy will not apply to U.S. citizens, a Biden adminis- necticut. “Every household now
support for their fundraising tration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Law- almost has one person infected.
campaign said, “We are deeply It’s that bad in India.”
moved by the response we have ful permanent residents and other people with exemptions Every day the news grows
received from all of you for our would also be allowed to travel from India to the United States. grimmer. Bodies dropped off
fundraiser. Sewa appreciates As part of existing restrictions on international passengers, at families’ doorsteps or burned
your willingness to donate for anyone arriving in the U.S. would still be subject to coronavirus in parking lots as hospitals and
testing measures and must enter quarantine if they have not
a cause that would save many been vaccinated. morgues overflow.
lives in India. Our top priority The travel ban is being imposed on the advice of the Cen- The charity is pushing a mas-
is to procure and ship oxygen ters for Disease Control and Prevention, according to White sive fundraising effort hoping to
concentrators to India as soon fund PPE, aid, and most of all,
as possible.” House press secretary Jen Psaki. In a statement issued Fri- oxygen. “In one day, we were
The American India Foun- day, Psaki said, “The policy will be implemented in light of ex- able to get to almost $3,000.
dation, a leading non-govern- traordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants That is so useful…The resourc-
circulating” in India.
mental organization in the Unit- es need to keep coming.”
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